Chance and the Extraordinary Life

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Chance and the Extraordinary Life

By

Vicki Hinze

We all want a chance. Whether it is to do something we really want to do, or it’s to not do something we oppose doing. We don’t always get that chance. As they say, that’s life. It isn’t fair, but no one promised it would be.

Yet life being unfair doesn’t mean our desire for a chance is hopeless. It does mean it is up to us to maximize our opportunities to manifest that chance. So how do we better our odds of assuring we get a chance?

So to get a chance, prepare. Do what you need to do to increase the odds of getting the chance you want. If you need a course to better position yourself based on competence, take it. If you need a contact who is in a position to assist, network. If you don’t know what to do, seek someone who has done it and ask for advice.

What you cannot do is sit around and bemoan your lack of opportunity. You must do what you can do to invite opportunity into your world, your life, and your future.

2. Arnold Palmer said, “It’s a funny thing, the more I practice the luckier I get.”

Some rely on luck, or genuinely believe that only luck can provide them the chance they want. I sincerely doubt the first time Arnold Palmer picked up a club, he got a hole in one. He practiced and practiced and then practiced some more. He honed his skills. And the more he honed, the better golfer he became. Decide what you want, then work at becoming the best you can be at it. Practice, study, learn from others, devote your effort to becoming an expert at whatever it is. All those things put you in the right place at the right time for “luck” to find you.

3. Ken Poirot said, “When life presents you an opportunity seize it!”

Too often we have an opportunity that isn’t our sought for chance so we don’t take it. We fail to see that while this chance isn’t exactly the chance we want, it can better position us for exactly what we want. These interim opportunities are like lining up ducks. A leads to B leads to C. Far too often we fail to get our chance at C because we insist on skipping A and B. A chance which moves you closer to your chance is a chance worth seizing.

4. Greg Boyle said, “The business of second chances is everybody’s business.”

If you try and at first fail, be willing to fail again—and again. This chance matters to you. It is significant. It can change the direction of your life. Something that important is worth pursuing until you succeed. So be willing to fail your way to success.

The thing about chances is they aren’t guaranteed. No one promises you’ll get the chance you seek. It’s up to you to create circumstances and conditions, to pursue your chance. Remember, persistence pays.

No one promises you’ll get a second chance. Again, it’s up to you to assess where your attempt fell short and to do what you can do to not repeat that mistake and improve. Chances, like opportunities, are more often than not created.

Few bother to tell you, “Fat chance.” Most people are so involved in creating their own lives and chances they don’t think much about yours. Some will help you, yes. But it’s up to you to seek help and to help yourself.

Many will forfeit their chance because they won’t commit to the work and effort it takes to get that chance. If you want it, go for it. If it exists, find it. If it doesn’t yet exist, create it.

In life, no one hangs out a sign and says, “Last chance.” That decision comes from within.

The thing is, you create and sustain your own desire for your chance or second chance. You might have to start over somewhere else, to step down a rung on the career ladder to gain better positioning. You might have to move forward with tattered pride or eat humble pie. At some time, everyone does, though few talk about it or even remember it, particularly if subsequently they’ve gotten their chance.

Here’s an important thing to remember. It’s only your “last chance” when you say it’s your last chance. Until you are ready to utter those words, continue your hot pursuit. This personal choice is yours to make. Don’t let that call be made by default.

Everyone who has ever seized their chance, at sometime during their journey to it, doubted they’d make it. They feared they wouldn’t, and they fought the nagging doubt that they could make it. Maybe not out loud. Maybe now, they even say, “I never doubted it.” But odds are the thought crossed their mind. They were just so determined they fought and vanquished fear and doubt. To get your chance, you must battle and beat fear and doubt, too. Refuse to let fear and doubt hold you back. Think of them as a thief who will steal your chance if you let them. Then don’t let them.

Remember the words of Jim Rohn: “If you are not willing to risk the unusual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”

We all want extraordinary lives. To feel content. Fulfilled. It’s our nature to crave those things. Your chance is born in desire. A desire never seizes us that exceeds our ability to attain it. We either have what we need to make that chance manifest, or we have the ability to get what we need to make it manifest. Know it, believe it, never doubt it.

Hear and listen Paulo Coelho’s wise words: “You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.”

Chances reside in what we prepare for, what we practice, what we see as opportunities… and in allowing the unexpected to capture our imaginations, captivate us, and convince us that this unexpected thing is our chance for an extraordinary life.

Last word… Define extraordinary for yourself. After all, it is your chance at your extraordinary life you are seeking. It should be you who defines it.